In the Malaysian town of Kampung Laksamana, reports of a supernatural creature known as the orang minyak (or "oily man") have caused residents to form neighborhood watches.

According to legend, this slippery being — who was immortalized in such films as 1976's The Oily Maniac (above) and 1958's Sumpah Orang Minyak — is a human black magic practitioner who rapes virgins to increase his evil powers. The orang minyak wears nothing but underwear and a thick coating of black oil. The oil allows the monster to blend in the shadows and slip away from his pursuers.

Advertisement

Malaysian news site The Star reports that Kampung Laksamana has been bedeviled for the last ten days by a duo of orang minyaks — "one is tall, stocky and bald while the other is thin and curly haired." Sightings of these sebaceous warlocks have rallied locals to arm themselves:

"I saw the bald orang minyak hiding behind the water tank of a house at about two in the morning. It was breathing really loudly, like a cow.

"It was black and shiny. When I shone my light on it, the thing stuck out its head to look back at me. Before I could do anything, it climbed up the roof and disappeared," says [resident Aslam Khan].

He says they also found the possible spot where the orang minyak conducts its ritual of reciting jampi (mantra) and having an oil bath. The villagers stumbled across the spot after chasing the orang minyak into some bushes next to the flat [...] The residents have been carrying out patrols from midnight to dawn. Every now and then, a team of youngsters can be seen riding their motorbikes in a convoy around the neighbourhood.

During the Christmas weekend, some 200 people patrolled the street, waiting for the orang minyak to appear and many carried parangs (machetes) and axes, says Aslam [...] P. Mohan, 48, also claims to have seen the orang minyak at a house opposite his flat at about 12.30am.

"It was crawling up the stairs of the house, just like Spiderman. When it reached the top it suddenly jumped onto the roof. I don't think a human could do that. It then just disappeared," he says, adding with a slight shudder, "The hair on my hands just stood up. We can laugh and joke about it, but this is serious. All the families here have young girls."

This isn't the first time orang minyak panic has struck Malaysia — in 2009, the creature was reported around the town of Sungai Petani. Also, a similar mass hysteria occurred last August, when "grease devils" were hunted by mobs in Sri Lanka.

Weirdly enough, Kampung Laksamana residents acknowledge that there's a silver lining to these mystical sex offenders — the orang manyak hunt has catalyzed civic pride. "The neighbourly spirit has been enhanced by these happenings," admitted a man interviewed by The Star. Nothing brings a community together quite like hunting an oil-drenched demonic rapist.